2007 Los Angeles Lakers Season Preview

2007 Los Angeles Lakers basketball preview from Maddux Sports handicappers.
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Kobe Bryant may still be traded before the season begins or as
it begins. You never know. Then again chances are he will be on
the Lakers for the entire 2007- 2008 season. Of course, you’d
think that any team would want the point-producing superstar,
but Bryant’s attitude and subversive personality are enough
to tax any coach, even the likes of Phil Jackson.

Power forward Lamar Odom (.468 FG%, .297 3P%, .700 FT%, 9.8 RPG,
4.8 APG, 15.9 PPG) is a huge piece of this team and must stay
healthy, while opposite him small forward Luke Walton (.474 FG%,
.387 3P%, .745 FT%, 5.0 RPG, 4.3 APG, 11.4 PPG) brings fine defensive
skills and a good shooting hand from inside and out. The third
player up-front last season was second-year center Andrew Bynum
(.558 FG%, .000 3P%, .669 FT%, 5.9 RPG, 1.1 APG, 7.8 PPG), who
looked good at the start of the year but seemed to lose focus
and confidence as the season wore on. Kwame Brown (.591 FG%, .000
3P%, .440 FT%, 6.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, 8.4 PPG), who is coming back
from shoulder surgery, will probably share time with Bynum.

Kobe Bryant (.463 FG%, .344 3P%, .868 FT%, 5.7 RPG, 5.4 APG,
31.6 PPG), now in his 12th season, is a scoring legend. Playing
almost 41 minutes a game, he’s a workhorse player devoted
to winning. Opposite Bryant is Derek Fisher (.382 FG%, .308 3P%,
.853 FT%, 1.8 RPG, 3.3 APG, 10.1 PPG), a former Laker who went
to Utah and in the off-season resigned with Los Angeles. Fisher
is a smart veteran who will man the point ably, getting the ball
to Bryant and creating key scoring chances.

With perhaps the best coach in the NBA, great scoring potential
and some decent defense, the Lakers should be in the hunt for
the big prize. But just how serious a hunt it will be will come
down to team dynamics. Fashioning a true team from all of these
separate, talented parts will be tough to do. The playoffs should
be easy to make, getting out of round one will be extremely difficult
for this Laker team.

To see how the Los Angeles Lakers stack up against the rest of
the Pacific division read our previews on the Suns,
Warriors,
Clippers,
and Kings.

2007 NBA Division & Team Previews

Maddux Sports
presents its annual 2007 NBA preview sorted by divisions. From each
division listed to the right you can find our ordered predictions as
well an individual team report of each National Basketball Association
Team. Click here
to return to the main NBA season preview page.